White Trash Party
by Radical618
Summary: Just a general story/case that focuses mainly on Arizona, but Lexie, April, and Jackson are all frequently part of the story.
1. Chapter 1

This was not like any other patient. She needed three residents for this patient. Usually just one would do, and that was usually Karev or the younger Grey. Today it was three of them. Lexie Grey, April Kepner, and Jackson Avery were going to be in for the case of their lives.

"Avery, Grey, Kepner. Let's go." She saw Avery glance at Teddy for help. "Avery, my dying kid has a heart defect. Let's go." Dr. Robbins stressed the final 'go'. Time was short, and there was none to waste. She handed April a binder containing the vital information, which the three of them studied as they walked through the hospital. She spun around quickly and they came to a rapid halt. "You will follow my lead. You will not talk until I say you can talk. You will not look at her parents. Make eye contact with her. Do you three understand?" They were all wide-eyed and nodding yes.

Arizona opened the door to reveal three people in the room. The mother was wearing a cheap cotton robe with slippers. Her excess weight was bulging out the sides of the pink fabric. The father was no better, wearing a sleeveless shirt, his intoxicating body odor filling the room. His gut fell over his belt line, and his stomach was viewable above the belt buckle. The three residents looked to one another, but not in the eyes of the parents. They waited for Dr. Robbins to say something. April's eyes wandered to the daughter. She held back a gasp as she gently tugged Avery's lab coat. He in turn got Lexie's attention, and they all stared at the daughter with no sense or professional demeanor.

"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, these are the residents that are going to help me with your daughter's surgery, Dr. Avery, Dr. Kepner, and Dr. Grey."

"The hell are they gonna do? They're just kids."

"They're licensed doctors, Mr. Parker, and essential to Katie's survival. I can't do this alone." He didn't do anything, so Arizona continued. "Dr. Grey, patient history please." Dr. Robbins turned around so Lexie could make eye contact with her and not the parents.

"Kaitlyn Parker. Age 12. Suffers from Lukemia and Heart Cancer. Chemotherapy has not helped her after repeated trials." Lexie's eyes burned into Arizona's. The attending offered a small smile. This was no easy task for anyone.

"And that's why we're going to get you a heart and a bone marrow transplant." All three residents looked up to the perky attending, who was now facing the parents once again.

"We don't match our daughter's blood type Doctor Robbins. We don't got the money for a fancy heart transplant."

"You're daughter is going to die." Avery said calmly, but out of turn. Arizona turned her head to her side. Lexie and April stared at Arizona. "She's going to die and you could give a rats ass. Let us fix her before you start worrying about money and how she's going to be fixed." Katie's parents were fuming. Avery didn't move. He knew he was right.

"Dr. Avery, that's quite enough." Arizona's voice was firm and the residents remained silent as the attending spoke to the patient. "Katie, it is important for you and you alone to realize what it is we're going to do to help you. Do you understand?" The four doctors watched the fragile child nod her head yes. Her chest barely heaved as she took breaths of oxygen. Her skin was a pale and sickly blue. It was obvious she had been in hospitals for a long, long time. "Dr. Avery is going to kindly explain what we're going to do to increase the chances of your survival."

Before Avery could get a word out, Katie opened her lips and managed to speak quietly to the four of them. "He said I was dying. Why bother fixing me?" Arizona stood unnerved, and nodded for Avery to explain to Katie how they were going to save her.

"You're heart is weak, Katie. We need to take it out of you, and replace it with a new one." She nodded, but looked to Dr. Robbins for reassurance. The PEDS surgeon gave her a small smile. "Then, we are going to find you some new bone marrow, which will help you fight off the cancer that is affecting your blood. This gets entered into your blood stream, and fights off the bad cancer."

A small smile formed on her face. "Thank you, Dr. Avery." Her eyelids slid closed, and she fell asleep, tired from the energy she had just exerted.

"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, please excuse us. We need to go arrange for a heart and for a marrow specimen. When we have arranged for all of that to occur, we will bring you papers to sign for consent to perform the surgery. Is that clear?" They nodded without much enthusiasm. The four doctors took a last glance at the dying Katie, and left the room. "Grey come with me. Avery, go find Dr. Altman and tell her I need a consult. Kepner, tell the chief I need to speak with him." They each went their separate ways – it was time to save a life.

"Dr. Robbins, I don't mean to question your approach to this case at all, but how exactly will this all be paid for if the parents can't afford this?" Lexie panted her question as she swerved in and out of the crowded hallway following behind her attending. She was slightly disconcerted when Dr. Robbins didn't answer right away, the last thing Lexie needed was to be kicked off a case of this magnitude. Suddenly, she felt the surgeon's hand tighten around her wrist and she was forced into a vacant on-call room.

"Grey, this case isn't a normal case. You saw those parents, they honestly don't care if their daughter lives or dies. I do. I care. Now, you can go ahead and worry about how this is all going to get paid for, but it's going to happen whether people in this hospital care about the money or not. Is that clear?" Arizona realized her hand was still clamped around Lexie's wrist and she finally let go, turning her back on the young resident, and taking a deep inhale.

"It's clear, Dr. Robbins." She didn't say anything else as she watched Arizona continue to face the opposite direction. She glanced at her watch, not knowing what it was that was on the schedule, or what Dr. Robbins had planned. Finally, Arizona turned around to face Lexie, who offered a small smile.

"I need this case to work, Grey. I need this case to work because I miss Callie. I feel like if I can make this case work, Callie and I can work, too. Do you get that?" Lexie nodded and saw Mark's face appear in her mind. "Thank you. Now let's go, we need to find Katie's oncologist."

April hurried to Derek's office hoping that he was there and not busy. Despite Dr. Robbins' friendly nature, when she got into surgeon mode she was…fierce and really intimidating. She saw through the large glass wall that sat behind Dr. Shepherd's desk that he was in his office, so she hurried her pace and made her way into his luxurious office.

"Kepner, you're out of breath. Is everything okay?" He studied her face momentarily before rising from his chair and welcoming her into his office.

"Dr. Robbins has some very important things to discuss with you. I just wanted to get here as fast as possible due to the declining health of the patient. Plus, Dr. Robbins is slightly intimidating when she's focused."

He chuckled at her and grabbed his lab coat from the coat hanger. "Let's go find Dr. Robbins, shall we? I'll be the judge of how scary she actually is."

"Dr. Altman!" Avery yelled across the hallway, but his address to his attending failed as she continued to walk away from him. "TEDDY ALTMAN!" Avery bellowed down the packed hallway, when she finally spun around, wide eyed. She saw Jackson and her face grew annoyed, as she retraced her steps back down the hallway. He met her half way, where she seemed anything but pleased that he was demanding her presence the way he was. "Dr. Robbins needs you on a consult right away. We have a rapidly declining young patient who needs a heart transplant."

"Well why didn't you just yell that, Avery. Yang!" The resident stopped and looked over to her peers. "Push back our scheduled surgery, Mr. Graham can wait a few extra hours. Avery, show me the way to Robbins."

The six doctors, three attendings and three residents, sat around the meeting room table quietly. Derek and Arizona presided on the heads on the table, and the other four filled in accordingly. Arizona looked to Derek, and started her spiel. "Chief, I need to do a surgery pro-bono." He nodded, and motioned for her to continue. She glanced to her residents to give her support, Lexie offered a smile because she knew what this meant for Dr. Robbins. "My patient is twelve and dying. She needs a new heart and she needs a bone marrow transplant." She paused and collected herself, "Her parents don't care if she lives or if she dies. I do. We are doctors, Dr. Shepherd, we care. We can't let this child die because her parents are idiots."

"Do it, Robbins." He leaned back in his chair with confidence and offered her a smile. "Do it."


	2. Chapter 2

Her eyes sparkled as she watched Katie's parents finally sign the papers allowing them to proceed with the surgeries. They looked at her, obviously disgruntled and annoyed, but even so Arizona smiled at them with sincerity; what they were doing was right and good. She thanked them and turned to her residents. She paused momentarily, deciding what it was each individual was going to do next. "Kepner, prepare Katie for the heart surgery, there is already a heart lined up for her here." She shifted her gaze to Avery. "Which means, Avery, tell Dr. Altman we are ready to proceed, and that the heart will be needed in about an hour's time." He nodded and made his way out of the cramped hospital room. "Grey, now that we have the puzzle pieces in order, we need to inform Dr. Swender that we are moving forward." She walked passed Lexie and out into the hallway.

"Dr. Robbins." Instantly Arizona swung around and looked to Lexie, knowing exactly what it was the young resident was going to say, but she let her continue anyway. "Dr. Swender was not keen on going the surgery route." Dr. Grey did her best to keep her voice critical but not forceful, as it was not her place in the least to dictate Dr. Robbins' plan of action.

"Grey," she paused and laughed to herself, "Dr. Swender doesn't cut. She doesn't save lives using pick-ups and suction and all that. She doesn't know what will help Katie." Arizona's voice was picking up with intensity, but the PEDS surgeon was oblivious to it. Lexie felt herself shrinking in the small bubble she called her personal space. "We are in full control of her future because of the skills we possess."

Before Lexie could allow her superior to lose her cool in the middle of the hallway, she interjected quickly, "Dr. Robbins, I was in no way criticizing our job, at all, I was just making sure you were taking into account the opinion of Dr. Swender before we do this. Katie is weak, Dr. Robbins. Isn't it important to make sure every facet of her case is examined?"

"Yes, Dr. Grey. You're correct." She looked at the staring audience they had acquired in their brief, but semi-heated discussion. She leaned in closer to Dr. Grey, not wanting to draw anymore unnecessary attention to either of them. "Thank you for making me take a step back." Lexie nodded and saw the concerned face of Callie over Arizona's shoulder.

"Let's get going Dr. Robbins, we don't have any more time to waste." She and Arizona hurried in the direction opposite of Callie. They caught and elevator as it was closing, and joined the company of Alex Karev. "Five, please." Alex pressed the number and it lit up. A few moments later the elevator stopped at floor three, where Alex departed without a word or even a grunt of acknowledgement.

The doors closed smoothly and as soon as they were moving Arizona spoke to the young resident in a calm but stern voice. "I knew she was there, Grey. I don't need you protecting me." Dr. Grey turned to Dr. Robbins, mouth agape as though to protest or apologize, but the attending did not allow her to get anything out. "Focus on this case Lexie, not me." Rarely did an attending call their resident by their first name. Lexie didn't know whether she liked it or not.

The doors rolled open when the two doctors reached floor five, and they proceeded to find Dr. Swender with haste. They zig-zagged through the hallways of the fifth floor with determination, not stopping to say hello to or even smile at anyone; Katie Parker was fighting a battle to stay alive at this very moment and she was losing. Finally, Arizona caught sight of Dr. Swender and approached her with confidence. The oncologist's facial expression hardened at the sight of the PEDS surgeon, Dr. Swender knew what was coming.

"We are doing the surgery, Dr. Swender. It's been approved by all involved, including the family." She checked her watch. "Let's go Grey." Dr. Swender could do nothing but nod to Dr. Robbins as the surgeon turned and headed back down the hallway, leaving Dr. Grey there to awkwardly smile at Dr. Swender, and then follow her attending. Within minutes of exiting the elevator they were back in it again, heading down to the OR. Arizona was taking deep breaths, preparing herself for the surgery ahead of her. As the doors slid open, the rest of her operating team were standing waiting for her. She smiled and nodded her head. "Let's go."

There was no pep talk given by Dr. Robbins. The four of them scrubbed in silently, and then filed into the operating room, confidence pulsing through each of them because that was what it felt like before they were about to save a life. The word had gotten around Seattle Grace Mercy West very fast; the gallery was full of eager spectators. Teddy was present just in case she was needed, but Arizona was confident in Jackson's ability to take lead for the heart transplant. Derek was there sue to his duties as chief, but he was a surgeon too, so it was obvious his interest had been tickled. Arizona took a quick glance at the audience and took a breath. She was not going to let anyone's presence – Callie especially – effect her. Katie was her priority for the next few hours.

She looked down and smiled at Katie after tuning out everything else going on around her that was not related to the surgery. "All right Katie, this is the time when you start to count backwards from 100. The sooner you count, the sooner you will be back on track to stay alive." Arizona watched Katie's mouth curl into a hopeful smile. "Ready?" Katie nodded just once, and began to count, her voice shaking slightly, but it stopped suddenly as she was muttering the number 96. "Avery, make the cut."

Everyone from above looked through the glass and watched the over-confident resident make the incision. He had done it perfectly, and the surgery begun. April waited patiently with Lexie for Arizona to give them directions. None were presented yet, but they assumed that once Katie's heart was removed, their hands would be greatly needed. Arizona looked up to Lexie and told her hole the clamp so Jackson could continue cutting where appropriate. Dr. Grey squeezed in next to the focused Dr. Avery. She steadied her hand and took hold of the metal instrument and tightly tugged at Katie's open abdomen allowing everyone a better look at the dying heart. Everyone paused momentarily to gawk at what they saw. Her heart, barely beating, had scar tissue where a tumor had been. But that wasn't why they stopped. The tumor they had missed in scans was now their primary obstacle. "Looks like we have a small change of plans, Avery."


End file.
